


How does second place feel now?

by Ysabel (Mystical_Isabel)



Series: The *real* karate kid [2]
Category: Karate Kid (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Gen, One Shot, Parking Lot Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-13 19:34:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29033988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mystical_Isabel/pseuds/Ysabel
Summary: A dive into Johnny's head during the parking lot scene.
Series: The *real* karate kid [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2064705
Comments: 6
Kudos: 6





	How does second place feel now?

**Author's Note:**

> This scene was originally going to be part of my fic Striking Back! But it got a bit heavy so I decided to cut it off and write it apart instead. It's short but angsty. You've been warned.

After handing LaRusso the trophy and watching him being swept away by the audience, Johnny walks outside. He sees his friends standing over there in the parking lot, and feels a mix of shame, sadness, guilt and unexpected relief. It's over.

He heads towards them, not meeting any eye in particular, second place trophy firmly in his hand. It's not first place, but it's still pretty good, all things considered.

"Well..." he manages to get out once he's by their side, right next to a car. He looks at his feet. 

"You did good, man." Bobby, gentle and loyal as always, pats his back. From the corner of his eye he sees two sets of legs walking away. He feels his heart squeezing inside his chest but doesn't say anything.

Loud footsteps approach from inside the arena, and Johnny looks up to see sensei John Kreese, and he fights against his instinct of cowering, standing straight instead, meeting the man's hard eyes.

"You lost," Sensei Kreese sneers at him in recrimination.

"I got second place," he retorts, with weak hopefulness and fear as he shows the small trophy to the man who, up until recently, he has considered a father.

"Second place is no place, you're off the team!"

Indignant, he finally stands up to the man, not sure if he's being brave or stupid.

"That sucks! I did my best!" And he had. It wasn't his fault that sensei Kreese had meddled and forced them to cheat.

"What did you say?"

"I said I did my best!" he says it again, loud, clear, proud and angry.

"You're nothing, you lost, you're a loser!"

" _You're_ the loser!" he lashes out. By ordering him to sweep the leg, his sensei had made it not about Johnny but about himself.

"Ohhhh! I'm the loser, huh?" Kreese is mad, he can tell, but he doesn't back down. Johnny and the other Cobras have just been chess pieces he uses in his sick, twisted war. 

"Yes!" And he refuses to be part of that anymore.

He feels his trophy being taken from him and he's frozen, helpless to do anything about it. The war veteran holds it in his hands, then applies pressure, breaking it and throwing the pieces away like they are nothing.

Like he is nothing. Only a toy. Disposable. He can finally see his sensei's true darkness, his real cruelty. 

"You're sick, man!"

Not his sensei anymore.

Kreese's strong arm strikes with the speed of a cobra and wraps around his neck, holding him in a chokehold.

Panic hits him as his airways are blocked and he taps the man's elbow, terrified, trying to tell him to let go, that he's about to lose consciousness. He can hear his friends protesting, then getting hit by John Kreese. He wants to defend them, tell them to leave. He's not worth them getting hurt over. 

"How does second place feel now, huh?"

"I said leave boy alone!"

Suddenly, he's able to breathe again and his lungs ache. He gasps, sending much needed oxygen into his body. He feels like crying.


End file.
